Title page; For flute and violin; originally for violin and piano. Nos. 14 and 13 in two volumes of a privately bound set with binder’s titles, respectively, Flute and violin duets, and Flute and violin.

This binder’s collection of sheet music contains twenty-seven duets bound in two separate volumes, the first for flute and the second for violin. The first thirteen compositions were written for flute and violin, and although undated, they were most likely published in the first two decades of the 19th century. The remaining fourteen pieces consist of operatic transcriptions arranged by Charles de Bériot (1802-1870).

The Bériot arrangements feature six selections from the operas of Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835), two from the operas of Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), one from Don Juan by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), three from the operas of Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868), and two from the operas of Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826), as well as one composition by Charles de Bériot himself. A violinist by training, Bériot enjoyed a successful solo career and later, in his 40s, accepted an appointment as head of the violin faculty at the Brussels Conservatory. Failing eyesight forced his retirement by age 55, though he continued to be active as a composer for the remainder of his life.

Binder’s collections of sheet music were common in the 19th and early 20th centuries, providing the means to social entertainment in homes and other informal settings beyond concert venues. While often unorganized, some collections are ordered according to genre, instrumentation, composer or chronology.